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Mar. 12th, 2023 12:32 amOh yeah this place exists.
So I've basically decided that I need to revive my plans to get to California, which I largely abandoned years ago. Being trans in a red state is not a great situation. San Diego, though not the most liberal part of California, is far more so than Missouri, especially southern Missouri. I would be much safer there, the problem is, it's expensive. Like a 2500 average rent for a one bedroom.
Thankfully, I'll have a computer science degree in a year to a year and a half. If I can get a programming job, that could pull in 80k+ to start, though some amount of luck is involved. I'm starting work on a portfolio to help. A degree says I can pass classes, a portfolio will show I can actually program shit. Overall picture would be any language I've worked in, and think I could get up to speed quickly on the job, will have at least one program there. Maybe some other stuff if it shows mastery of certain ideas better. I do need to learn a bit more C, since I do have an interest in systems programming and C is huge there. And maybe get some bugfixes successfully submitted to some OSS projects, showing I can work with larger projects from other people.
It's kind of convenient that the fastest route to a paycheck that could make this work is a thing I was doing anyways. I got really lucky with that.
The rough budgeting I've done- only very rough now, more a feasibility study than a real budget- says this should be doable. Average entry level programming pay is enough to live on my own, assuming average rent for a 1 bedroom. There's room to accept a lower quality(thus cheaper) apartment, or a similar quality but downsize to studio if I end up with a lower than average salary.
I'm likely to try to get a remote position first. This would put me in average national pay ranges, which is a bit lower than San Diego specifically, but it would let me build up a moving fund and decent emergency fund before I make the move.
So I've basically decided that I need to revive my plans to get to California, which I largely abandoned years ago. Being trans in a red state is not a great situation. San Diego, though not the most liberal part of California, is far more so than Missouri, especially southern Missouri. I would be much safer there, the problem is, it's expensive. Like a 2500 average rent for a one bedroom.
Thankfully, I'll have a computer science degree in a year to a year and a half. If I can get a programming job, that could pull in 80k+ to start, though some amount of luck is involved. I'm starting work on a portfolio to help. A degree says I can pass classes, a portfolio will show I can actually program shit. Overall picture would be any language I've worked in, and think I could get up to speed quickly on the job, will have at least one program there. Maybe some other stuff if it shows mastery of certain ideas better. I do need to learn a bit more C, since I do have an interest in systems programming and C is huge there. And maybe get some bugfixes successfully submitted to some OSS projects, showing I can work with larger projects from other people.
It's kind of convenient that the fastest route to a paycheck that could make this work is a thing I was doing anyways. I got really lucky with that.
The rough budgeting I've done- only very rough now, more a feasibility study than a real budget- says this should be doable. Average entry level programming pay is enough to live on my own, assuming average rent for a 1 bedroom. There's room to accept a lower quality(thus cheaper) apartment, or a similar quality but downsize to studio if I end up with a lower than average salary.
I'm likely to try to get a remote position first. This would put me in average national pay ranges, which is a bit lower than San Diego specifically, but it would let me build up a moving fund and decent emergency fund before I make the move.
